Synthesis and characteristics of Mg-Ni-Al-CO₃ hydrotalcites for styrene oxidation

Abstract

Mg-Ni-Al-CO₃ hydrotalcite-like material was synthesized by coprecipitation method at a certain pH. The synthesized solids have been characterized by physical techniques, namely XRD, IR, TEM, and EDS. All synthesized samples showed a well-defined hydrotalcite structure with the presence of nickel(II) ions in Mg-AI hydroxide lattice. The Mg-Ni-Al-CO₃ catalyst has been tested for the oxidation of styrene with aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and showed a good catalytic activity in the formation of benzaldehyde. Styrene conversion is in the range of 20-85 % with the high selectivity to benzaldehyde at 50-80 °C, 4 hours.